Pell Center to host lecture on recovering lost underwater artifacts with explorer Carl Allen

The Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy will be hosting Carl Allen ’22 (Hon.), American entrepreneur and explorer, as part of the Pell Center’s 2024 lecture series. The lecture will be held on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building. To register, go here. 

In the centuries that followed the discovery of the New World, gold and silver embarked on thousands of voyages across continents, but some of that gold was lost at sea in the countless shipwrecks that have fueled adventures and storytelling ever since. Join Carl Allen, founder of Allen Exploration, for a discussion on his hunt for lost treasure, his philanthropy and the model of the public-private partnership he has pioneered with the government of the Bahamas. 

Allen’s love of exploration inspired him, along with his wife Gigi, to establish the Allen Family Learning Commons on the first floor of the McKillop Library in support of Salve’s Our Mission. Our Moment. campaign. The Allen Family Learning Commons houses essential student support services to help students as they undertake their own exploration of their career goals, their personal values and their learning experiences and is a vital component of the Salve Compass Program.

Carl Allen is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, outdoor sportsman and explorer. His business career began at the Heritage Bag Company in 1986. He rose to the top, becoming President and CEO of the company and eventually became the sole owner in 2005. He led Heritage Bag through a sustained period of growth before selling the company to the South Carolina corporation, Novolex, in 2017. 

Allen is also a passionate hunter and fisherman who owns a tapestry of businesses and land that emphasize his fondness for the great outdoors. These ventures include legendary fishing destination, Walker’s Cay, in the northern Bahamas; Tellico Junction; a 2,600-acre ranch in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee; various hunting leases in his home state of Texas; as well as a fleet of large yachts he uses to fish and search for underwater cultural artifacts in the Bahamas. 

To register for the lecture on Thursday Feb. 22, at 7 p.m., go here.